Month: June 2019

Ranking the Top 10 Book/Movie Villains

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts14 Comments

This started off as a table discussion within my family. Now, after a few hours of thought, I want to actually do this, with a little bit of a pattern. Villains will receive from between 1-10 in People Killed, Darkness, and Power. This will give the villain a total between 1-30. Alright, let’s go.

10: Moriarty- Sherlock Holmes. I give him a 2 in People Killed, considering he basically only killed himself, along with a few others. Power gets a 2, bumped up from a 1 because of his ability to manipulate the people under his command. His Darkness gets a 5, owing to his intense hatred for Sherlock Holmes, and his ability to do anything to stop Sherlock. If you’ve seen Season 4, Episode 4…. brr… However, he is probably one of my favorite villain actors. You really can’t do better than that. Total score: 9

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9: Loki- MCU. We’ve seen him on these lists before! People Killed: 6. Invaded New York, killed hundreds, was responsible for the death of Phil Coulson. Darkness: 4. Once again, he’s a murderer and appeared to have no qualms in stabbing poor Phil Coulson. Power: 4. Three words: He’s a god. All this evil and power, and yet he still has millions of fangirls. (As you can tell, I don’t like him a lot). Total score: 14

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8: Joker- DCU. Was such an evil villain, I’m still not allowed to see Batman: The Dark Knight. However, I’ve read quite a bit about him, so here we go. People Killed: 5. Was a psychopath, serial killer. ‘Nuff said. Darkness: 7. Was EXTREMELY dark. He was so dark, he’s the second darkest villain here. Power: 3. Wasn’t very powerful, but had a lot of resources at his command. Total score: 15.

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7: Palpatine- Star Wars. The second greatest villain in the Star Wars universe surpassed only by his own apprentice (see below). People Killed: 4. He would have gotten a 3, but I added one because of the murder of Mace Windu. Darkness: 7. Extremely dark looks as evil as a villain can get, and even wears the hood. There are few villains that surpass him in darkness. Power: 5. Was able to shoot lightning out of his fingers, use the force effectively, choke people, and fight with a lightsaber. Not a dude you want to mess with. Total score: 16

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Savitar- DCU, The Flash. This was a tough one. It was either him, the Thinker, or Zoom. I’m inclined to chose Savitar, especially because of his insane speed, so here we go. People Killed: 4. Slaughtered anyone in his path, and almost killed Barry and Wally. Darkness: 7. Insanely dark, fought with absolutely no handholds, did anything to get his goals, and even looked dark. Power: 5. Was as fast as Barry, and could even walk on water. To be honest, he’s probably the coolest looking villain. Total score: 16

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Sauron- The Lord of the Rings. People Killed: 7. Was responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of hobbits, dwarves, men, and elves, including Gil-galad and Isuldur. Darkness: 4. In the last movies, he took the shape of a flaming eye, glaring down at everything atop his tower, Barad-Dur. Power: 5. In his necromancy stage, he was able to fight and kill any living creature, save maybe Gandalf and Saruman. Total score: 16

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Steppenwolf- DCU. Was the main villain in the popular movie Justice League. People Killed: 7. Was literally known as the “Destroyer of Worlds”. Darkness: 6. Has no qualms about killing anyone, in any way. He would have gladly destroyed Earth to find the Motherboxes. Power: 6. Was able to defeat the entire Justice League, minus Superman, who made a later appearance and wiped the floor with Steppenwolf. Total Score: 19

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Darth Vader- Star Wars. Was the most powerful Jedi of his time, but he turned rogue and slaughtered everyone in the Jedi temple, including women and children. Bad boy, Ani. People Killed: 6. Darkness: 6. His theme song blaring in the background, cape flowing, respirator making that awesome hooo-caaahh sound. You can’t beat that. Power: 7. Force choke, insane lightsaber skills, insane piloting skills, was able to slaughter anyone who stood in the way of the Empire. Total score: 19

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Voldemort- Harry Potter. Need I say more? This is going to be interesting. People Killed: 7. Killed absolutely anyone he wanted, including women, children, and babies. Killed his most loyal supporter (Snape), was responsible for the death of the greatest wizard of all time (Dumbledore), and tried to kill Harry more times than we can count. Darkness: 10. I’m going to get some flak for that, but you CANNOT get darker than Voldemort. He is the dictionary definition of darkness. Power: 7. Was the second most powerful wizard of his time, and was capable of casting spells most didn’t even KNOW about. Total score: 24

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Thanos- MCU. I am sure some people will disagree, but that’s where I stand. He was easily the greatest villain of all time. People Killed: 10. He killed trillions. Nothing else needs saying. Darkness: 6. He wasn’t the darkest villain, but he was decently dark. Power: 10. Again, he had the power to kill half the people in the universe, was able to fight off ALL the Avengers with hardly a thought, and lived to tell the tale. Total score: 26.

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All right, everybody, that’s all. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Avengers Theory: Loki’s Death

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts7 Comments

Hey guys! Welcome back to another episode of the Avengers Theories. As always, this post will contain spoilers, so read at your own risk!

This theory talks about Loki’s death, and I must say: I wholeheartedly agree with it. Here is the link to the theory itself, and my quote from it is in italics.

In the film, some of the Avengers travel back in time, stealing the Tesseract from Marvel’s The Avengers. The Infinity Stone is dropped and picked up by Loki — who at that point had already been defeated by the Avengers and was in custody. He uses it to teleport away.

From that point on, it is not exactly clear what happened. In-story, it is explained that removing an Infinity Stone from a universe will cause irreparable harm, leaving the universe defenseless against certain kinds of attacks and fundamentally changing reality itself. The desire to avoid creating a tangent reality is a big part of why, at the end of the film, the borrowed stones all have to be returned to the exact moment they were taken. From this perspective, it is likely that Loki created an alternate timeline by absconding with the Stone, and that he may have left the timeline he abandoned in bad shape.

Eman, though, thinks that a character as ancient and clever as Loki would likely see the danger inherent in that, and would have done essentially what the Avengers did: used the stones to accomplish a specific end and then returned them to where he got them. The theory here says that he likely would have used a Naruto-style “shadow clone” of himself to send back with the Tesseract so that he could go on about his life unmolested while everyone believed him to be in custody. In this theory, it would be Loki’s double who appeared to die at the hands of the Dark Elves, and the real Loki who reemerged to take on Odin’s visage and rule Asgard. That gives him five years, from 2013 until 2018, to rule Asgard while having unlimited access to the Tesseract. That alone could serve as a pretty solid jumping-off point for his series.

The theory further holds that Loki would have done the same thing again in the moments before Thanos attacked in Avengers: Infinity War, faking his death to avoid the consequences for failing Thanos. The argument here is bolstered somewhat by Loki’s extremely feeble attempt to attack Thanos in Infinity War; in this case, he wanted people to believe him dead — especially Thanos — and so he might have essentially “thrown the fight.” This would allow him to re-emerge again now that Thanos is gone.

This theory is very simple. During Avengers: Endgame, when Loki picks up the Tesseract during a period he never should have had it, a few people theorized that Loki essentially destroyed the timeline he was in, but in teleporting away, created a new timeline in which he had the Tesseract and was never captured by the Avengers. The author, however, believes that Loki would have foreseen the dire consequences of his actions, and would have returned the stone to the exact point he took it, thus restoring the timeline and destruction he may have caused. He would have sent the Tesseract with one of his clones, which would have pretended to later be in custody while the real Loki still lurked. It also would have been this double to die at the hands of the dark elves in Thor: The Dark World, while the actual  Loki would have had five years to rule Asgard in the place of Odin.

This theory also gives birth to another theory, one that I like much more. Loki, upon seeing the Hulk’s defeat in Avengers: Infinity War would have known that Thanos would not allow the Asgardians to live. Because of this, he would have faked his death (for the first actual time in the movies), while the real Loki hitched a ride with an unconscious Hulk, who had been sent back to Earth by Heimdal. This would have explained Loki’s absolutely pitiful attempt on the Titan’s life. Essentially, he threw the fight. Thus, after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Loki would have been free to come out of hiding.

What do you think? Is Loki really dead? Or do you agree with the theory above?

In Sickness and in Health

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts19 Comments

Recently, I found myself with malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that causes all kinds of problems to the body, including violent fevers, joint pain, dizziness, and nausea. There’s actually a funny story to it, so get ready, because this is going to be fun.

Tuesday, the 18th of June, was a big day for my family. We, the McFarlands, along with another dozen families, were going to the “Foreign Staff Retreat”. This event happens once a year and is a time of fellowship, prayer, and fun for the foreign staff of New Hope Uganda (my ministry). However, the retreat takes place in a resort/hotel called the African Village, located in Mukono, which is a town located about 10 miles from Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Now, in order to get to Kampala, we have to drive about two hours from where New Hope is located.

About three days before the retreat, I discovered a serious need to go in and speak to my orthodontist. She had made a mistake in my braces, and as a result, I could not eat. Period. My parents, however, were not going into Kampala, where my orthodontist was located, but were taking a side rout that would avoid Kampala (and the resulting traffic) entirely, taking them directly to Mukono. Because of this, my parents asked our neighbors, the Ratins, to take me. The Ratins were going into Kampala that day, so it was decided I would go with them.

Tuesday morning, I woke up at 4:40 AM, having hardly slept a wink. Rising, I got dressed and made myself coffee, then headed (quietly) over to the Ratin’s house. Twenty minutes later, we left New Hope and began to drive to Kampala.

As we drove, I noticed something strange. I was getting repetitive chills, and my stomach was feeling nauseous. Knowing the dangers of getting sick in the car, I began to pray. Lord, please keep me healthy on this car trip. Please don’t allow me to get sick. Thankfully, He answered, and I didn’t feel any serious chills for the rest of the ride.

Upon arriving in Kampala, I ate breakfast with the Ratins at a wonderful restaurant called Cafe Javas. Once we had finished, we parted ways. I took a “boda-boda” (a motorcycle acting as a taxi) over to the orthodontist to have my teeth fixed. Then I took one over to Acacia Mall, where I met my “sister” Betty. Four taxis, one boda, and a bus later, we arrived at African Village. Almost the instant I found my parents, I got nailed. Dizzyness, fever, nausea, you name it.

Thankfully, my parents tested me for malaria immediately, and upon finding the results positive, began the treatment. Three days later, the treatment had done its work, and I was feeling much better- save for a minor head and respiratory cold.

Malaria, while being extremely painful and annoying, is usually not deadly. Because of modern medicine, the death rate of malaria has fallen in massive numbers, and now hovers at 2%, I believe. However, the most difficult thing about it is the lack of excitement. There is nothing to do while you have it, so I spent three days in almost complete boredom. Thankfully, God brought me out of it with no complications, and in doing so, taught me a valuable lesson: times of boredom are the best times to talk to Him. When we find ourselves in the most boring situations, we must learn to talk and fellowship with God.

Top Ten Songs Tag

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts9 Comments

We’re back with another tag! This time, it’s a new one: the “Top 10 Songs Tag”, sent to me by Mia (Thanks Mia!)and Joshua (Thanks Joshua!) Make sure to check out her awesome blog here.  Also, make sure to check out Joshua’s crazy cool blog here.

So, the rules are fairly simple.

1. List your top ten songs in answer to the questions
2. Hyperlink the songs if at all possible
3. Tag as many people as you want
4. Feel free to use my graphic or one of your own.
5. Have fun!!

Here are the questions.

What’s a soundtrack song you can’t help but sing along to?

Ah, probably the soundtrack for “The Greatest Showman“.

What’s a song you love from a genre you don’t?

“Prove It (feat. KB)” by David Crowder. It’s a country song, but very awesome.

What’s a song that makes you cry every time, without fail?

I, being an unemotional person, do not cry to music 🙂

What would be your theme song?

TobyMac’s “Till The Day I Die”

What’s a song tied to a good memory?

Pharell Williams’ “Happy“. My family used to sing it in the car all the time when I was young.

If you’re a writer, what song best sums up your main character? If you don’t write…song for your favorite book’s main character?

Definitely “What’s Up Danger” by Blackway and Black Caviar.

What’s a song you always play on repeat?

NF’s “The Search“. It’s such an epic song, I can’t help but listen to it twice.

What’s the most convicting song you’ve heard?

Lecrae’s “All I Need is You“. It’s a wonderful reminder to simply trust in God and God only.

What song reminds you most of your childhood?

“Be Thou My Vision“. My parents always sang it to me before bed.

What’s your favorite song?

Well, I go through stages of liking different songs the most. Right now, it’s KB’s “Hold Me Back” and NF’s “The Search“. Both are absolute fire.

Now, I want to add another question to this list.

What is one song that greatly exceeded your expectations?

Josh SB’s “God DNA“. That song is barely known, but the rap is insane.

Now, finally, my tags. Here we go.

Ezra

Newblogger20

Keziah E

Ariana

I selected you four with the intention of giving you guys some fun because this was easy and awesome. Anyway, have fun, my peeps! See ya next time, and as always: thank you for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

The Liebster Award 2.0

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts13 Comments

We are back with another award- The Liebster Award! Yep, the same award that I did a few months ago, but this one is different. There are a few new rules, and the order has been changed. Thank you so much to the person that nominated me- Raegan! Be sure to check out her blog here. Anyway, here are the rules.

  1. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you
  2. Share 11 facts about yourself
  3. Answer the 11 questions the blogger(s) gave you
  4. Nominate 11 bloggers that deserve the reward
  5. create 11 original questions for the nominees to answer
  6. let them know they’ve been nominated.

Ok, here are 11 facts about me. These will be simple and easy.

  1. My name is Elisha William McFarland
  2. I am 16 years young
  3. I am 6’0
  4. I live in Uganda
  5. I have lived in Uganda for 15 years
  6. I have played basketball with the grandchildren of Museveni, president of Uganda
  7. I have 5 siblings
  8. I also have a dog, 3 rabbits, 22 chickens, and an owl (it belongs to Noah, my little brother).
  9. I play lots of basketball
  10. I am a starter for our local high school basketball team
  11. I love baking

Here are the questions Raegan gave me, with my answers in bold.

1. Do You prefer to wear flip flops or gym shoes? Gym shoes. As an athlete, I end up wearing them a lot anyway. 

2. Do you like ranch houses? I’ve never been in one, so I wouldn’t know 🙂

3. Do you prefer veggies or fruit? FRUIT! Veggies are ok, but fruit such as strawberries, mangoes, and jackfruit are amazing. 

4.   Prefer cats or dogs? Dogs for the win. I have a dog- a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Mounty. 

5.  Prefer Pink or purple. Probably purple, because it’s a royal color. 

6. Have you ever been at attacked by a dog? Yes, once. I accidentally threw a football too far, and this dumb dog came and started shredding it (it was leather). When I grabbed it from him, he bit my finger and basically shredded it. I still have scars. 

7.Do you prefer Pepsi or Coke? Coke. Pepsi seems to sweet, which is rather ironic, considering they both have tons of sugar. 

8. Do you like roller coasters? Yes, but not as much as my dad and siblings: they adore Space Mountain in Disney World. 

9. Do you like ice cream or Cake? Cake, because I am lactose intolerant, and as such cannot eat much ice cream.

10. Do you play the Piano? Yep! I had lessons for about three years before my teacher moved back to the USA. 

11. Are you homeschooled? Happily! I have been homeschooled every year of school, save for 5th grade, which I did at a Christian school in West Virginia. 

Alright, that’s that. Now, here are my questions.

  1. Predestination or Free Will?
  2. How long have you been a Christian?
  3. What is your favorite type of smoothie?
  4. McDonald’s or Wendy’s?
  5. Do you follow sports? If so, what sport and what professional team?
  6. The NBA Finals have been going on. Do you have any opinions on this?
  7. What is your favorite thing about your way of schooling (homeschooling or real schooling)?
  8. Do you think soda rots your brain?
  9. What is your favorite chapter of the Bible?
  10. What is your favorite book?
  11. If you could live in one country for a week, what would it be?

Now, I don’t think I’ll be able to nominate 11 people, but I’ll do my best to nominate as many as I can.

Joshua Swanson

Elijah Holston

Lydia

Arabella

Keziah

Jesse

Newblogger20

Ani

Ezra

Faith on the Farm

Isabel Elieson

Holy Guacamole I actually did it. I nominated 11 people. Well, that was epic. Alrighty, everybody, that’s a wrap. Once again, thanks Raegan for the nomination!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steadfast Pictures New Film!

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts2 Comments

I entirely endorse this! Go Elijah!!!

Newblogger20’s blog

Hi guys!

It didn’t give me the option to repost for some reason… so here we go! And please go give Elijah a follow! His blog is awesome 🥳 🥰 🥳

“Our next film!

Yep! That’s right! We’re announcing our next film!

It’s called: Second Chances

Here is the synopsis:

A family tragedy three years ago left Cameron Taylor a hardened teenage with a chip on his shoulder. In trying to escape home pressures and past nightmares, a single mistake shatters his world, leading him on a desperate search for answers.

When his mother suggests a change of scenery for the summer, Cameron reluctantly agrees, but country life holds more in store than he could have imagined. New friends—Alan and Elise—help to ease the pain of the past, but a freak accident one morning brings Cameron face-to-face with his biggest nightmare once more.

Will Cameron succumb to the tragedies of…

View original post 56 more words

This Atheist Calls Other Atheists…

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts2 Comments

Recently, while on the website Quora, looking at Christian discussions, I found this answer to the question (euphemism alert) “What instantly pisses you off?”

“I’m an atheist.

Always have been, always will be.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that God doesn’t exist, and that I live in a purely chaotic universe which runs on scientific principles.

I am a 100% faithless heathen.

And I will. Not. Tolerate. Anti-Christian. Bigotry. On. Quora.

I absolutely refuse.

I consistently downvote questions which not only attack Christianity but go after Christians on a personal level, besmirching their ability to think or to reason. I have also reported Quorans’ accounts for what I deem to be consistently anti-Christian answers. Anyone who makes blanket statements about Christians and passes them off as objective truths is a bigot, plain and simple. And if I catch them, they will be reported. No exceptions.

Bigotry in any form rubs me the wrong way, but pseudo-intellectual, supercilious, anti-Christian hate is something that pisses me off in a microsecond. I can’t stand it.

Except for SJWs, gun control wonks, people who believe in ridiculous things like income inequality, systemic racism, “the pink tax,” etc., nothing pisses me off faster on Quora than seeing another atheist write a self-important, puffed-up, conceited answer badmouthing Christians as “ignorant,” “stupid,” “backward,” etc., etc.

How dare you.

How dare you presume to foist your narrow-minded point of view on others. Isn’t that exactly what you blame Christians for doing?

How dare you presume that, simply because you have made a choice to believe in something you see as being inherently more rational than the beliefs of Christians, you suddenly think you have the answers to the intrinsic mysteries of the universe, and anyone who disagrees with you or even asks that you tone down your harsh rhetoric is a hidebound clod who is more comfortable living in ignorance.

It’s that kind of careless, callous arrogance that I find simply outrageous.

I will not tolerate it. Not for a second.

Believe in God or don’t, I don’t care. But no matter what you believe, don’t you dare presume to lecture others about what you perceive to be their ignorance or wrong-headedness. People gotta do what’s right for them, and unless you’re God (unlikely; you’re an atheist), you don’t have all the answers. Acting like you do is unpardonable conceit. And if I see you concluding, in your answers, that Christians are ignorant simply by dint of being Christians, or if I see you make any other sort of sweeping generalization about a large and diverse group of people (like Christians), I will report you.

Because guess what? You’re a bigot.”

That answer stunned me. I had always assumed that all atheists were naturally against Christians, be they young or old, man or woman. But the fact that someone, even while not being an atheist, could get so angry about the responses of other atheists that he would report them, is stunning to me.

However, while this strong response is correct, we must remember this: no matter the provocation, we, as Christians, MUST remember to turn the other cheek to those that hate us.

Update: My Podcasts

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts12 Comments

Hey! I just wanted to quickly say that although I have taken a large break from podcasts, I am now back in business! As such, every Tuesday I will be releasing a new podcast, so be sure to check them out! Next week, we will have a guest: Noah McFarland!

You can find the link to the podcasts here.

True Missions

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts8 Comments

A few years ago, I read the book The Poisonwood Bible. This book was fictitious, having little basis on truth, but I found a certain element within it rather interesting. Set in the late 1800s, I believe, a missionary family travels to Africa to minister there. However, once they reach their destination, they make two crucial mistakes.

1: Instead of changing their lifestyles to match those of the locals, they force the locals to conform to the lifestyles of the foreigners.

2: Instead of attempting to learn about this culture, so as to better share Jesus, they make the natives learn about America.

These two key mistakes, while seeming to be quite innocuous, turn out to be very important. Because of their lack of understanding and knowledge about the foreign culture, the missionary family finds themselves struggling to receive even a single convert. This mistake is fatal and is an example of fake missions. 

The dilemma of fake missions is quite common. Occasionally, “missionaries” will raise support and move to Uganda, often fully intending to minister to the “heathens”. However, they make the same mistakes discussed earlier. Instead of conforming to the culture of the country they move to, they remain completely in their own habits and traditions, often forcing others to conform to the foreigners’ way of life. The man of the house gets a job, usually a well-paying one, in Kampala, Entebbe, or Jinja- three of Uganda’s biggest cities. They will buy a large house and occupy it completely, importing American furniture and food so as to keep their former lifestyles. The family will attend an American-only church, sing American songs, then go back to their American lifestyle, all while living in Uganda, and claiming to be missionaries. This is not missions. 

Now, I have one last example. In reading the book Bruchko, I encountered something very similar. Bruce Olsen, the author of the book, and also its main character, travels to Columbia to evangelize a murderous tribe, named the Motilones. On his way, he stops at a mission station, manned by a team of American “missionaries”. This team, while not having the challenge of a murderous tribe to convert, continued to have problems in converting the locals. Upon arriving, Bruce found the problem: the missionaries were making the same mistakes I have discussed above. They were making the locals attend an American-looking church, sing American songs, and even dress like Americans! This caused the locals to develop a deep-seated hatred for the foreigners, thus creating the problem-none of them would even listen to a single word of the Bible. Once again, I repeat: this is not missions.

Now, take the example of Jay and Vicki Dangers, missionaries in Uganda for over 40 years. They, while still having some elements of their former American lives, drastically changed the way they lived in order to win the hearts of the people they worked amongst. So also did Bruce Olsen, who lived as a Motilone for 40 years. He dressed like a Motilone, talked like a Motilone, lived in a Motilone house, sang Motilone songs, and even found ways to slightly change Bible stories, so as to make them more relevant to Motilone lives. In doing so, he won the hearts of the entire tribe he lived with, along with the hundreds of other people that lived close by. This is true missions. When working in foreign countries, we, as Christians, must remember-if we completely keep our old ways of life, there will be no change in the hearts of those around you.

Also, one more thing: If I have offended anyone in ANY way, I sincerely apologize. It is not my wish to call people out- I only used these examples because they were relevant to the topic. If you felt offended, please notify me and I will do my absolute best to make amends.

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Alright, that’s it. Thank you so much for reading, guys! I greatly appreciate your support. As always, if you haven’t clicked that “Follow” button, then be sure to smack it so hard Thor loses weight! The “E-Squad”, (the name of the Africa Boy followers) is a growing community, and I wouldn’t want you to miss out! Anyway, thank you again for reading, and I wish you a wonderful day.

Growth

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts6 Comments

Last week I turned 16. My father, being the unpredictable man he is, organized a lunch with myself, him, and seven other men that have known me since I was young. In our time together, each man took the time to speak something to me, be it small or large, in an effort to convey something about manhood. Now, I am not an emotional person. I do not cry during movies (except Avengers: Endgame). But as I sat there, surrounded by these men, I felt overwhelmed with emotion. I am so loved!

Yet even as I was surrounded by these men, one of them spoke up. He did not grow up in a Christian community or family- just the opposite, in fact. He said this. “Elisha, I did not have this gift. The gift of men around you is a special thing indeed, for there are few people that receive this blessing.” Truly I am blessed! There are young men and women across the globe that have no opportunity to fellowship with older man or women of God.

Even as I begin a new chapter in my life, I have been reflecting on the last five years. When I turned 10, my father took me on a hike and challenged me, calling me to manhood (though that is a story for another time). Since then, he has continued to do something similar, challenging me to new things within God and manhood. Yet the last five years have not been easy. I have gone through some… interesting stages, so say the least. And yet God is good, is He not? He has kept me turned towards him, and for that I praise Him! Amen, eh?

Anyway, just a reminder: If you have ANYBODY in your life that can keep you in your walk with Christ, do three things.

1: Thank them. Do not stop to thank them for their work.

2: Teach yourself to listen to them even more.

3: Appreciate them. If you do have someone like that in your life, be thankful!

Alright, thanks for reading guys. As always, if you haven’t clicked that Follow button on the side, be sure to do so! Have a great day, and may God’s peace be with you.

Ranking the Top 10 Most Powerful MCU Villains

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts4 Comments

After my ranking of the top 10 most powerful Avengers, (click here if you haven’t read it), I absolutely had to do this. Tell me what you think!

10: Bucky Barnes- The Winter Soldier: This good guy/bad guy presented quite the challenge for the Avengers during Captain America: Winter Soldier, when Bucky took on Captain America and Black Widow. During Captain America: Civil War, Bucky briefly skirmished with Iron Man and Black Panther, increasing his number of brief enemies to four. Although Bucky wasn’t the most powerful villain the MCU has seen, he receives the 10th spot owing to his massive kill record and the amount of time it took for the Avengers to capture him.

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9: Erik Killmonger: The villain of Black Panther, Killmonger is the cousin to T’Challa, king of Wakanda. Killmonger’s father was killed by T’Chaka, the predecessor to T’Challa, which provoked a sense of bloodlust and desire for revenge within Erik. About twenty years later, Killmonger returned and challenged T’Challa for the right to the throne. After an epic duel, Killmonger defeated T’Challa and tossed him off the side of a waterfall, assuming T’Challa was dead. However, after being found by some fishermen and nursed back to health by his mother and sister, T’Challa re-appeared and challenged Killmonger, who’s pride would not allow him to refuse. After an epic duel, T’Challa proved victorious, killing Killmonger. Killmonger, while not being especially powerful or gifted, proved to be extremely ruthless, killing thousands in his lifetime. 272702.jpg

8: Ego. The biological father of Starlord, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ego proved to be a maniacal and powerful villain during Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2. A Celestial, Ego is an extremely powerful being, capable of molecular manipulation on a large scale level, shapeshifting, planetary creation, superhuman strength and durability, energy manipulation, flight, and immortality. Essentially, he was a god, lowercase g. I was going to rank him at the 4th spot, but then decided to reduce his ranking owing to his lack of bloodlust. While his powers were at least equal to those of Hela and Dormammu, Ego did not kill nearly as many people as his forerunner, Red Skull.

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7: Red Skull. Johann Schmidt, the head of H.Y.D.R.A, gained his abilities through an imperfect Super Soldier Serum, giving his enough powers to fight Captain America on even terms. Schmid’s imperfect serum, while giving him some of the Super Soldier abilities, transformed him into the terrible Red Skull. While being ugly, the Red Skull’s abilities were quite profound, including enhanced intelligence, strength, durability, speed, agility, stamina, and enhanced healing. Red Skull proved to be one of Captain America’s greatest enemies by being the main reason for Cap’s extended stay in the Arctic. Red Skull would eventually become the Stone Keeper on Vormir as a punishment for his abuse of the Space Stone. Here, he advised Thanos, Hawkeye, and Black Widow in their plans to remove the stone. While not being especially powerful, Red Skull proved to have no qualms in killing, as he killed thousands during World War II.

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6: Ultron. The robot embodiment of the Mind Stone, Ultron was created by Tony Stark to be a peacekeeper. Stark’s genius proved to be too much, however, as Ultron turned against the Avengers and aspired to destroy all human life. He later enlisted the help of H.Y.D.R.A, as well as the Maximoff twins, Wanda and Pietro, also known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Ultron would later create an army of clones, helping him in his fight against the Avengers. While eventually stopped by the Avengers, Ultron’s abilities included superhuman strength, durability, and agility, as well as flight, gravity manipulation, genius intellect, and technology manipulation. Ultron’s powers proved to be great, and his desire to wipe out the entire earth placed him at the 6th spot.

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5: Loki. The brother of Thor, and god of mischief, Loki proved to be the Avenger’s second greatest enemy, only outdone by the being at the number 1 spot. Loki lead the invasion on New York, backed up by his army of Chitauri. Loki killed thousands during the battle of New York, including S.H.I.E.L.D agent Phil Coulson. However, Loki was not entirely bad, as he proved in saving the lives of Jane Foster, Bruce Banner, and Thor, amongst others. Sadly, after an unsuccessful attempt on Thanos’ life, Loki was killed, leaving Thor as the last living Asgardian royal.

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4: Ronan the Accuser. The killer of millions, Ronan was an extremely powerful Kree, with powers rivaling those of Yon-Rogg and Captain Marvel. His abilities included superhuman strength, speed, and durability, as well as expertise in weapons and combat. As stated before, Ronan was the killer of millions, including the family of Drax the Destroyer. After attempting to destroy the planet Xander with the help of the Power Stone, Ronan was defeated by Peter Quill and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ronan’s sheer power and might, as proven in his battles against the Guardians, combined with his massive bloodlust, give him a well-deserved 4th place.

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3: Hela. Daughter of Odin and sister to Thor and Loki, Hela was an extremely powerful Asgardian. Capable of slaughtering almost any being, Hela had many abilities, including superhuman strength, speed, agility, and durability, as well as life/death manipulation, weapon manifestation, structure manifestation, armor manifestation, and necromancy. Proving to be more powerful than Thor and Valkyrie combined, Hela was able to kill thousands of Einherjar, including the Warriors Three, all powerful warriors in their own right. Hela was also able to destroy Mjolnir and stab out Thor’s right eye, both extreme accomplishments. While being one of the most powerful villains in the MCU, Hela’s powers still pale in comparison to those of her forerunners. 

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2: Dormammu. Essentially a god, Dormammu’s powers are insane. He was a destroyer of worlds, able to annihilate a planet with hardly a thought. His powers included Dark Dimensional power manipulation, power bestowal, god-level strength, immortality, and necromancy. As a destroyer of an apocalyptic level, Dormammu was the ruler of the Dark Dimension, using its power to repeatedly kill Doctor Strange. Because his powers are possibly greater than anyone on this list, he receives the number 2 spot.

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1: Thanos. Absolutely no question, this was who you expected to be at the number 1 spot. Thanos is a Titan, a race of god-beings capable of almost anything. Upon seeing the coming destruction of his planet, Titan, Thanos offered a solution: genocide. Half the planet would be destroyed, thus reducing the number of mouths to be fed and solving all resource problems. His plan was rejected by the rest of his kind, but the Titan proved to be prophetic, as Titan dissolved into ruin. After the destruction of his race, Thanos became a warlord with a fearsome reputation for destroying half the life on any planet he came to. After many years, he built himself a mighty army, led by his most loyal and powerful servants. However, upon realizing the amount of time his plan would take, Thanos aspired to use the Infinity Stones in his goals. Finally, after years of collecting them, he placed them all into his Infinity Gauntlet and snapped, destroying half the life in the universe. The Avengers could do nothing but watch as their friends and family disintegrated into nothingness, leaving Earth in chaos. Thanos then used this power to destroy the stones, leaving the Avengers no opportunity to reverse his actions. (SPOILER ALERT). After 5 years, the Avengers managed to break the secret of time travel, allowing them to go back in time and collect the stones from the past, reversing the “Snap”. After accidentally allowing Thanos to come to the future, the Avengers were forced to fight him again, this time defeating him with the help of Tony Stark, who used the stones to kill Thanos and his army. This power proved to be too much for Stark, who died shortly after. However, owing to Thanos’ near immortality and invincibility, as well as his successful destruction of trillions of life forms, Thanos receives an uncontested number 1. Also, just so you know, his powers included insane strength, durability, speed, reflexes, agility, regenerative healing, terrain manipulation, energy manipulation and transformation, death inducement, pain inducement, energy detonation, energy projection, energy conversion, portal creation, vortex creation, spatial projection generation, intangibility, force-field generation, global influence spreading, teleportation, dimensional negation, illusion conjuration, invisibility, matter transmutation, biological and soul manipulation, time manipulation, event negation, genius-level intellect, and a mastery of combat and weapons.

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Alright, that was fun. Thank you so much for reading, guys, and as always, if you haven’t clicked that Follow button, smash it so hard it will make Thor lose weight. Have a great day!